To meet changing needs, go to the open source

The world is changing. Business is changing. People are changing. Healthcare is changing. And healthcare marketing is evolving at warp speed. Yet many healthcare communications firms are still using a traditional approach that is no longer relevant or optimal.

At the heart of the issue: ­Clients want new and better ways to do business, driven by an increase in specialty products, a new world economy and innovations in technology. Healthcare manufacturers and marketers are searching for new solutions and the ability to do more with less.

To meet those demands, many companies are restructuring—and need agencies who are doing the same. So for healthcare communications companies, the message is clear: adapt or die.

The challenge for most traditional agencies is that they are “stuck in the box,” trapped by the fixed assets and overhead of the holding company model. But new cutting-edge companies are determined to succeed in a changing environment by adopting an open source structure.

Going beyond breaking down siloes, they are breaking down the walls and replacing what's fixed with what's flexible—a vast network of top talent, ready to be called into combat at a moment's notice. This SWAT team approach lets the agency match the talent to the needs of each assignment or brand.

There are many advantages to this approach, for both the manufacturer and the marketer. Healthcare, with its huge array of treatment categories and convergence of payers, providers and patients, no longer lends itself to “one size fits all” solutions. So aligning the right talent to the right assignment delivers greater value, greater relevance and a more potent work product. And by infusing flexibility into the model, clients benefit from a much better cost structure.

This approach works for clients from blockbuster brands to the most specialized therapies and devices. And it aims to deliver a customized solution to meet today's changing needs.

The “open source” business model may become the wave of the future. This structure meets pharma companies' pressing need for better people, better product and a better price.